Daily Archives: October 18, 2011

Even though Vevo seems to be taking over YouTube, there are still a lot of good channels out there that pump out some good music. I have a lot of subscriptions on YouTube, but I will admit that some of them are just dull and unimpressive. I honestly need to take some time and clean up my subscribe list, but it’s just too much work! I’d rather just let them sit there and check for new videos every now and then.

A long time ago I was on the prowl for some great old school hip-hop and ended up subscribing to a channel that never ceases to stop with great uploads. I’ve never been to Seattle in my life, but I will say that VintageHipHopSeattleis one of the best hip-hop channels on YouTube. The folks who run the channel and affiliated profiles are from Seattle, but don’t let that fool you. It may not seem like Seattle is the most “gangsta” place to find hip-hop, but there are a lot of good artists that come from out of there.

For awhile I was hardcore fan of Blue Scholars, a hip-hop duo from Seattle, but I’m a huge fan of hip-hop from the golden era. All us 80s and 90s enthusiasts know that those years were some of the best in music history, cartoons, and movies. I may have been born in 91, but as I grew up my mom made sure I had an appreciation for 80s movies, hip-hop, social problems, and overall a historical appreciation for the breakthrough innovations prior to the 90s.

So many people in my generation just focus on the future and don’t take into account the importance of knowing history and popular culture prior to our decade. I think it’s difficult to appreciate the state of hip-hop, movies, and fashion without understanding the starting point and how culture has evolved. I’m all for moving forward and loving the new, but I can’t help be nostalgic in my desire for classic black and white films, 80s music, and those vintage rhymes from the golden era of hip-hop. Some of the best hip-hop ever created came from the golden era during the late 80s and 90s; so I’m glad to see VintageHipHopSeattle keeping the history alive.

Not only is VintageHipHopSeattle keeping the history alive, but they do it in such an organized fashion that is quite impressive. They have 465 videos (as of right now) and counting. The channel is very consistent in adding new videos on a daily basis, and the videos are organized by year. Instead of getting lost and confused, you actually can watch videos in a series of playlist that show the progression of the art itself, hip-hop. The videos between 1984-1986 are different in style than the videos in 1987-1989 and 1990-1991; mainly because in 84′ to 86′ you’ve got Run DMC, Heavy D, Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Salt-n-Pepa, and other iconic artists killing it on the scene. Then when you get into the late 88′, 89′, and early 90’s you see more hip-hop that is still raw and classic, but you also see more of a social agenda and public message with artists such as Public Enemy.

There are a lot of tracks that I haven’t heard of, but thanks to VintageHipHopSeattle, I’m falling back in love with some of my favorite artists and listening to tracks that I’ve heard but may have forgotten the name of. Watching their YouTube videos is truly like a hip-hop history lesson without having to pay tuition and wait for 9th Wonder to teach a class on it at Duke University. I know he was co-teaching classes at the University last year in order to keep the message of hip-hop alive and bring it to the next generation. He said his mission was all about “Educating the youth on where hip-hop comes from and the history of it, using the records we use, gives hip-hop a longer life. I decided to become an advocate of that.” That’s pretty awesome! It’s so important to know where hip-hop comes from and to take some time out from all the stuff on the radio and listen to the classic hip-hop tracks that, in my opinion, are timeless vintage rhymes.

Be sure to check out VintageHipHopSeattle and subscribe for some classic rhymes. If you are looking for music from 2000 till infinity, then check out their other channel as well, HipHopLivesToday

Jasmine McGee (ThinkSoul25)

I'm a quirky hipster, house music junkie, 6ft Amazonian Warrior(Wonder Woman fanatic), I'm also a coffee Addict, gamer, lover of culture, and an urban nomad that grew up in Colorado, but currently calls the DMV home.

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